Hachette & Amazon Bury The Hatchet

The battle between Hachette Book Group and Amazon is over. The companies today announced they’ve reached a new, multi-year agreement for ebook and print sales in the U.S. The new ebook terms will take effect early in 2015. Under the pact, Hachette will have responsibility for setting consumer prices of its ebooks, and will also benefit from better terms when it delivers lower prices for readers, the companies say. Amazon and Hachette will immediately resume normal trading, and Hachette books will be prominently featured in promotions.

Michael Pietsch, Hachette Book Group CEO said, “This is great news for writers. The new agreement will benefit Hachette authors for years to come. It gives Hachette enormous marketing capability with one of our most important bookselling partners.”

“We are pleased with this new agreement as it includes specific financial incentives for Hachette to deliver lower prices, which we believe will be a great win for readers and authors alike,” said David Naggar, Vice President, Kindle.

Stephen Colbert, whose publisher is Hachette, was among those affected by the dispute. In June he urged a boycott of Amazon on his show. The e-retailer was accused of refusing orders for upcoming Hachette books, raising prices, and deliberately delaying shipments — sometimes by 3-4 weeks.

New York-based Hatchette Book Group is a division of Hachette Livre, the third-largest trade and educational publisher in the world. HBG publishes under the divisions of Little, Brown and Company, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, Grand Central Publishing, Orbit, Hachette Books, Hachette Nashville, and Hachette Audio.